Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal

We read in Deut 11:29 how the Israelites were to proclaim blessings on Mt Gerizim and curses on Mt Ebal.

29 Now it shall be, when the Lord your God has brought you into the land which you go to possess, that you shall put the blessing on Mount Gerizim and the curse on Mount Ebal.

We then read in Deut 27:12-13 how 6 tribes were to stand on one mountain, while the other 6 were to stand on the other mountain.

12 “These shall stand on Mount Gerizim to bless the people, when you have crossed over the Jordan: Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph, and Benjamin; 13 and these shall stand on Mount Ebal to curse: Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali.”

There are no insignificant details in the Bible, so have you ever wondered how the tribes were divided between the 2 mountains?

Below is an explanation, courtesy of Ps Joseph Prince.

The 6 placed on Mt Gerizim were all descended from Leah and Rachel, Jacob’s wives. All 4 that descended from Bilhah and Zilpah, Jacob’s maidservants, were placed on Mt Ebal.

But why were Reuben and Zebulun numbered among those on the mountain of curses, although they were descended from Leah? 

• Reuben forfeited his firstborn birthright because he slept with Bilhah (Gen 35:22). 

• Zebulun was the 10th son. The number 10 represents the Law.

What an amazing revelation the Holy Spirit has given to my Pastor! #yetanotherreasonwhyIattendNewCreationChurch

Another 25 "Let-Go-Living" Booklets Up For Grabs!

The #TQSHsgGiveaway of 25 booklets of Pastor Joseph Prince's "Thoughts for Let-Go-Living" have been totally snapped up in a matter of just 5 days!

Here are the names of the 1st blessed 25.

1. Gary TXC
2. Nah Annie
3. Ming Ying Yeow
4. Little TBBW
5. Balaji Rajamohan
6. Wei Zi Lin
7. Darren Kho
8. Andronicus Kok
9. William Kok
10. Joslin Chua
11. Patsy Neo
12. Trace Lim
13. Christine Yow
14. Ashley Evelyn
15. Gil Karen
16. Angelyn Chua
17. Alex Ong
18. Joyce Ngo
19. Niki Yappie
20. Rachel Ng
21. Clement See
22. Gillman Lauw
23. Frederick Chan
24. Felicia Huang
25. Schnitzer Ang

5 Easy Steps

That's right. 25 more booklets to be given away!

Due to the overwhelming response, another 25 booklets will be given out.

To stand a chance to be numbered amongst the blessed ones, all you need to do is to carry out the following 5 steps:

1) Like TQSH's Facebook page
2) Share the page
3) Type "Giveaways Galore and Answers to Tough Questions"
4) Set to Public
5) Post

What Is The Ultimate Treasure For Every Seeker?

Yesterday, I blogged about the Hebrew language being the only digital language. This allowed the scribes to copy the original texts that were written by Moses, Joshua, David, etc with great accuracy and precision, and without any error or omission because they could verify this via "row subtotals" and "column subtotals". 

the interlinear Bible leaves the Word untranslated

With this background, let us look at Genesis 1:1. 

Hebrew reads from right to left. Genesis 1:1 in Hebrew is "ba'reshiyth bara elohiym eth ha'shamayim neth ha'erets".

Take note that the scribes had to copy the passage in its entirety, even though there was a word in there that did not seem to make any sense, and may even have appeared superfluous to them.

If we look at a Hebrew-English interlinear bible, note that the word eth appears in this verse, but is not translated! This word is made up of the letters "aleph" and "tav", which are the first and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet.

It was a mystery to the scribes when they copied it down through the ages, but the mystery was finally uncovered by the apostle John a couple of thousand years later.

In Rev1:8, Rev 21:6 and Rev 22:13, we read that Jesus declared that He was the Alpha and Omega. 

The book of Revelations was written in Greek because that was the language of commerce during the apostolic age, hence Alpha and Omega, the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet.

But what language did Jesus speak to his fellow Jews, such as the disciple John and the apostle Paul?  

For that, let us look at what Luke records for us in Acts 26:14 

14 And when we all had fallen to the ground, I heard a voice speaking to me and saying in the Hebrew language, 'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads (NKJV)

In this verse, Paul (then known as Saul) is recollecting his Damascus Road experience in which Jesus had appeared to Him in a vision. Note that the Holy Spirit saw fit for Luke to record specifically that Jesus spoke HEBREW to Paul.

Aleph-Tav, Jesus' signature

When we put all these together, we realise that Jesus would have spoken to John in Hebrew too, and in those 3 verses in Revelations, He had declared to John that He was the Aleph and the Tav, ie. the first and last letter of the Hebrew alphabet.

When we link this back to Gen 1:1, what Jesus was in fact telling John was that He was that untranslated Word that the scribes had to diligently copy down through the ages, without understanding what it meant.

If we now link this to John 1, we can conclude that the Word being referred to in that chapter = Aleph-Tav = Jesus.

1 In the beginning was the Word (ie. Aleph-Tav), and the Word (ie. Aleph-Tav) was with God, and the Word (ie. Aleph-Tav) was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. 4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. 14 And the Word (ie. Aleph-Tav) became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. 

In other words, Jesus had deliberately put His own "signature", right there in the beginning, in the first verse of the first chapter of the first book.

The above revelation was obtained from a sermon by Dr. Larry Ollison entitled "The Hebrew Language".   The following is an extract from that sermon where he talks about the signature of Jesus appearing in Gen 1:1

Several years ago, Michael Drosnin wrote a book called The Bible Code, in which he claimed that the Bible contained hidden codes about various people and incidents in history. 

Well, the true Bible Code is that the person of Jesus is hidden in the Old Testament Scriptures, and as Christians, it is in our interest to uncover and unveil Him, because the more we know about Him, the more we know our own position, since we are co-heirs with Him. It is in our interest to know more and more about Christ, because as He is, so are we in this world.

Right there in Gen 1:1, His signature is found.

In Gen 3:15, God the Father prophesied that Jesus would be the seed of Eve that would crush Satan's head.

In Num 21, the snake in the desert that cured the Israelites was a picture of Jesus being lifted up so that all who believed in Him may have eternal life (Jn 3:14-15).

And there are many, many more nuggets of truth in the Old Testament Scriptures (Noah's Ark being a type of Christ, Jesus in the genealogy of Noah, Joseph being a type of Christ, Boaz being a shadow of Christ, etc, etc)

When we as seekers start to realise that the Old Testament contains numerous hidden treasures of our Lord Jesus, the Bible becomes like that mystery novel that we just cannot put down! Our hunger and thirst for the Word of God intensifies, as the Holy Spirit progressively unveils and uncovers Jesus, yea even in seemingly "dry" books like Leviticus, Numbers and Lamentations!

Paul says that ALL Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for equipping us -- and ALL means ALL -- including genealogies, numbers, names, etc. There are no insignificant details in the Bible.

So what is the ultimate treasure for every seeker of the truth? It is to uncover the person of Jesus and His finished work on the cross.

* P.S. There are many other passages in the Old Testament whereby Jesus had deliberately put His "signature" for the scribes to copy. 

To set you on your journey of discovery, I would highly-recommend this DVD entitled "Aleph-Tav: Jesus' Signature in the Bible".

https://www.sksbooks.com/products/aleph-tav-jesus--signature-in-the-bible-dvd/

Just How Accurate are the Scriptures?

Let us go back to basics today.  Even before seekers ask tough questions about the Bible, they must first be able to clear any doubts they may have about the accuracy and reliability of the Bible itself.

When I first started work as an auditor back in 1991, one of the areas of work that we as first-year assistants were assigned to carry out was what was then known as Section J, which was the fixed assets of the company we were auditing.

casting and cross-casting

The J lead schedule (or summary page) looks similiar to what you see on the right.

The rows would show the various types of fixed assets (eg. furniture, motor vehicles) while the columns would show their movement during the year (eg. amount brought down from last year, additions and disposals during the year).

During that era, we did not use electronic workpapers yet, which means to say that the J lead schedule was an A3-sized landscape piece of paper, and every single figure had to be manually written onto it.

To ensure that the figures were accurately transcribed, we had to cast (add downwards) and cross-cast (add across) using a calculator. If we arrived at the same grand total, this would give us a reasonable assurance that the individual figures were also accurate.

Of course now with Microsoft Excel, this task is much more simplified, and the casting and cross-casting formulae can be incorporated into the spreadsheet.

Which brings me back to today's subject matter.

The original Scriptures (what we now call the Old Testament) were written in the Hebrew language. In those days, there was no photocopying machine. So if one wanted to make a copy of a particular manuscript, he had to do so page by page, letter by letter.

Each letter of the Hebrew language has a number associated with it. For example, the first letter "aleph" equals one, the second letter "beth" equals two, and so on.

Hence, each and every row and column on a particular page of a manuscript could have a subtotal, similar to the fixed asset lead schedule mentioned above.

After a scribe had painstaking copied a particular page of a manuscript, he will cast and cross-cast to check if he arrived at the sub-totals as indicated on the page he copied from. If any of the sub-totals were wrong, it would mean that he made a mistake somewhere, and would have to throw that away and start all over again (correction fluid was not available in those days).

Those of you out there in my era would be familiar with cassette tapes. Cassette tapes are "analog", hence a recording made of a song, for example, would not retain the quality and clarity of the original. Nowadays, we are in the digital age of CDs and DVDs. These are considered "digital", so copies made retain the quality and fidelity of the original.

God, in His wisdom, had created Hebrew to be a "digital" language, so that the copies that were handwritten by those scribes retained the precision and accuracy of the very first original that was written by Moses, Joshua, David, Solomon, etc.

The above revelation was obtained from a sermon by Dr. Larry Ollison entitled "The Hebrew Language". The following is an extract from that sermon where he talks specifically about the digital characteristics of Hebrew.

In closing, let me share another very interesting fact. When Moses was inspired by the Holy Spirit to write the Pentateuch, he included in the very first verse of the first chapter of Genesis the Hebrew characters "aleph" and "tav" (which are the first and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet). Because of the digital nature of the language (where sub-totals had to tally downwards and across to ensure precision and accuracy), the scribes could not drop these two characters from the copies that they hand-wrote, even though these 2 letters appeared superfluous to them.

Tomorrow we will take a closer look at the significance of those 2 letters.

“Thoughts for Let-Go Living” Booklet Giveaway

To celebrate the re-launch of this blog, 25 copies of the latest booklet by Ps Joseph Prince entitled “Thoughts For Let-Go Living / 31 Thoughts to Let Go of Worry and Stress” will be given away totally free-of-charge!

P.S. I first got the booklet back in Nov 2017 as part of a 3-pack “Let-Go Bundle” which also included the Book and Study Guide.  It was then sold as a separate item last month.

However, it was only when Ps Mark referred to it in his sermon today (18 Feb 2018) that all of a sudden they became like hotcakes that flew off the shelves and tables at all the various campuses mere minutes after the 1st service ended.

That was when the Lord prompted me to place an order for 25 of them.

Here is a write-up on the booklet...

Stressed out, burned out, and weighed down by worry and anxiety? 

Release your cares and burdens to the Lord through this 31-day thoughts and prayer booklet! 

Each thought is paired with grace-filled Scriptures and a prayer that will help you to experience the power of the let-go life. Let Jesus dispel your fears and rest your soul as you immerse yourself in His powerful promises. Replace negative thoughts with His encouraging thoughts, and release your cares and burdens to Him through the simple heartfelt prayers here. As you cultivate the habit of letting go of every care to Him and anchor your heart on His Word, you will experience His peace, His supply, and His victory in every challenge!

https://www.josephprince.com/books/thoughts-for-let-go-living-booklet?source=index

So how do you get to be 1 of the 25 blessed receipients?  Very simple!

(1) Go to the "Tough Questions Seekers Have" (TQSH.sg) Facebook page and Like it

(2) Share the TQSH.sg Facebook post with the hashtag #TQSHsgGiveaway

(3) In the comment section of the Facebook post, type in what a Christian should use to "connect the dots" in the Bible?  Clue: The answer can be found in this post entitled "Connecting the Dots via the Scarlet Thread"

Normal Service Has Been Resumed

Dear friends

So much has happened since the last time I blogged.

Stay tuned! Don't touch that dial.

But the good to emerge from all this is that the Holy Spirit has prompted me to continue where I left off in this endeavour in discovering the answers to tough questions seekers have.  It has taken nearly 5 long years but better late than never I suppose :p

To recap, here are my 15 blog entries so far:

Welcome Aboard!

Q1: Is Paradise the Same as Heaven?

Q2: Where Did Adam & Eve's Grandchildren Come From?

Q3: How Did Dinosaurs Enter The Ark?

Q4: Are There Aliens in Outer Space?

CONNECTING THE DOTS VIA THE SCARLET THREAD <--- Fundamental.  Must read!

Q5: Why Did God Punish Some People Yet Allow Others to Get Away Scot-Free?

Q6: Why Was Noah Spared The Flood?

Q7. Why did God Not Punish Abraham for Lying about his Wife?

Q8. Wasn't God Cruel to Test Abraham by Asking Him to Sacrifice Isaac?

Q9. Why Did God Bless Jacob even though he cheated his Dad and Brother?

Q10. Why Did God Kill Onan and Yet Spare Tamar?

Q11. Is God Really the Same Yesterday, Today and Forever?

Q12. Will I See My Pet in Heaven? (Is it OK for Christians to Eat Animals?)

Q13. Why Was God So Inconsistent in His Treatment of the Israelites?

In Q5, I listed down a table showing how God seemed to allow some to get away relatively scot-free and yet unfairly treated or even severely punished others.  The general answer is that those whom He spared were in His "perfect will" of bringing about the promised seed, whereas those that were punished were unfortunately used by the devil to come against His "perfect will".

I shall next blog about Rahab and Achan so stay tuned!

S/N (Link)	Got Away Relatively Scot-free	Punished / Unfairly Treated	Scriptural Reference
01	Noah	Those who perished in the flood	Genesis 9:20-27; Genesis 6:9-8:22
02	Abraham	Pharoah, Abimelech	Genesis 12; Genesis 20
03	Jacob	Esau	Genesis 25 - 27
04	Judah and Tamar	Er and Onan, Reuben	Genesis 35:22; Gen 38
05	The Israelites (between Egypt and Mt Sinai)	The Israelites (after Mt Sinai)	Exodus 1-18; Exodus 19 onwards
06	Rahab	Achan	Joshua 2; Joshua 7
07	Gibeonites	All other inhabitants of Canaan (ie. Jericho, Ai, Jerusalem, etc)	Joshua 9; Joshua 6, 8, 10, 11-13
08	Gideon	Jepthah	Judges 8:30-31; Judges 11:31
09	Ruth	Naomi's family (husband Elimelek, and sons Mahlon and Kilion)	Ruth
10	David and Bathsheba	Uriah the Hittite	2 Samuel 11
11	Gomer (Hosea's wife)	Hosea	Hosea

"Power of Right Believing" Giveaway

Dear friends

I have not blogged about "Tough Questions" for the past 4 1/2 months because of other commitments.  Will resume doing so once I have the Holy Spirit's flow, I promise.

However, I am updating my blog with this entry because I have an exciting announcement to make.

The grace gospel first impacted my life in 2005 and ever since believing right, God has caused me to prosper in every single area of my life.  My marriage has never been stronger.  My relationship with my kids are rock solid.  And most of all, my career is at its very peak.

One of the revelations that God has unveiled to me is that whenever I sow into soil that is fertile, He causes me to reap a bountiful and overflowing harvest.

What do I mean by sowing into fertile soil?  Well, in practical terms, it means sowing into the ministry of men of God that preach the unadulterated gospel of grace.  The good news of God's unmerited favour based on the person of Jesus and His finished work on the cross.  Because Jesus took upon Himself all the bad that we deserved, we can now enjoy all the good that we do not deserve.

This sowing has taken the form of giving out materials by Ps Joseph Prince of New Creation Church and Rev Reuben Ng of Toa Payoh Methodist Church.  These two preach without the need to refer to printed notes because it is the Holy Spirit that gives them utterance.

As a result of not sticking to a script, they tend to go off on "rabbit trails".   Yet it is oftentimes what they say during these seemingly topic drifts that tend to contain a rhema word from God for someone sitting in the congregation.

Over the years, it has been an honour and privilege to distribute the following:

Aug 2007: 50 copies of Destined to Reign (D2R)

Aug 2008: 50 copies of Destined to Reign Devotional (D2RD)

Dec 2008: 25 copies of Humorous Bible Illustrations (HBI)

Aug 2009: 15 copies of The First 50 Sermons (TFFS)

Feb 2010: 60 copies of Unmerited Favour (UF)

Aug 2011: 25 copies of A Centenary of Anointed Sermons (CAS)

Aug 2012: 150 copies of 25 of the Best Sermons in 5 Years (5 x 5 in 5)

And as I look back, these giveaways have always been followed by mega-blessings in terms of bonuses, increments, and the like :-D

It's been more than a year since the last one which was carried out in Aug 2012.


It thus gives me great pleasure to announce that seedtime is here again!  The seed that will be sown this time around will be Ps Prince's newest book entitled The Power of Right Believing (PRB).

This time around, the giveaway will be done in conjunction with a group of fellow grace believers, and we are collectively known as "Grace United".  Together, we are committed to be giving away, (yes, totally free-of-charge), 25 copies of PRB (for a start) !!!

More details will be announced very shortly, so stay tuned and watch this space :-D

29 October 2013 UPDATE: 

Great news!!!  We will be launching our Grace United website in 5 days' time! Meanwhile, please like our Facebook page.  Those who do so and are based in Singapore stand a chance to get a copy of PRB.

3 November 2013 UPDATE: The Grace United website has been officially launched! Click here for a write-up of the giveaway.